The present invention relates to a system and method for coordinating access to a network from a plurality of user devices.
Today, networks such as, for example, the Internet, have become far reaching. Use of these networks is rapidly becoming part of the day-to-day activities of everyone. Further, in addition to the personal computer, advances in technology have made it possible to access networks, such as the Internet, from other devices, including mobile devices.
Mobile devices with very small screens are increasingly being used to retrieve information from the Internet. This information might include news headlines, e-mail messages, stock quotes, and directory information. While short pieces of information can be effectively retrieved in this way, as the information becomes longer, the small screen interface is no longer practical. Thus, reading a news headline and abstract, or a name, phone number and address of a business might be appropriate; but the full news story or the longer ad copy for the business will often not make sense to read with a small screen while moving from place to place.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system and method for coordinating access to a network from a plurality of user devices that allow a user to access information as needed in a format appropriate for the particular device being used.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for coordinating network access that allows a user to mark information with a placeholder using one type of device, and later retrieve or act on the information using a different device.
In carrying out the above object, a system for coordinating access to a network from a plurality of user devices is provided. The system comprises a server connected to the network and configured to establish a placeholder at the server, and control logic configured to retrieve the information indicated by the placeholder. The placeholder indicates information available from the network and is established upon demand from a requesting user device connected to the network and in communication with the server. The control logic is configured to retrieve the information indicated by the placeholder and to display a subset of the retrieved information, upon demand, at a receiving user device having a device type. The subset of information is based on the device type. That is, based on the device type, an appropriate subset of the information indicated by the placeholder is displayed to the user.
For example, a user may mark information with a placeholder when using a device such as a personal communication system (PCS) phone, and later retrieve or act on the information using a second device such as a workstation, personal computer, printer, fax, or other device. A small subset of information may be displayed on a browser on the phone, while all of the information (a subset that is the full set) may be displayed when later accessing the information from a workstation or personal computer.
In accordance with the present invention, the placeholder may be implemented in a variety of ways including as information in a cache at the server, as a link to a different server, as a cookie, or as a browser (located at the server). When the placeholder is implemented as a browser at the server, that is, a proxy-browser, the browser may be configured with additional features such as the ability to accept a cookie, the ability to store at least one user preference, the ability to store at least one user history entry, and/or the ability to store at least one user bookmark. Accordingly, the user may access the network, such as the Internet, from a plurality of devices using the proxy-browser. As such, the type of device being used to access the network is transparent to the sites being accessed, because all of those sites only see the proxy-browser at the server.
Further, in accordance with the present invention, the control logic and server may be implemented in a plurality of ways. For example, the control logic may be located at the server, or the user device may be connected to the network through a gateway with the control logic located at the gateway. Further, the server may be a proxy-server that connects the gateway to the network, with the proxy-server implemented as either software running on the gateway or as hardware such as a stand-alone server connected to the gateway. Further, the device may connect to the network through a gateway, with the server being remote from the gateway. In accordance with the present invention, although the server is a remote server, the system may be configured such that the user device accesses the server and the server is operative as a proxy-server that controls access to the network for the user device. Alternatively, the remote server may be configured such that the user device periodically checks in with the server and the gateway controls access to the network for the user device (that is, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to use with a proxy-server but may be implemented in other ways as well). Still further, users at a local gateway where the server is may use the server as a proxy-server, while users at a remote gateway may use a check-in technique.
Still further, in accordance with the present invention, because the server is configured to allow a plurality of different devices to access information on the network and share placeholders, the server may be operative as a unified messaging server or may utilize a unified messaging server in accordance with the placeholders to provide additional multiple device functionality. In one embodiment, the information indicated by the placeholder is translated into the appropriate subset for the user device when the user device requests access to the marked information. The translation may occur at the server, or may occur at the gateway to leave open the possibility for network access from a plurality of different devices that may access the network through a plurality of different gateways, while still utilizing the place holding abilities of the server. Further, instead of translating on demand for access to the information, the place held information may be pre-translated into a plurality of subsets corresponding to the plurality of device types with the pre-translated information stored at the server. When pre-translation is utilized, it may be more appropriate to pre-translate at the server, but of course it is appreciated that pre-translated information may be stored at one or more gateways when the server is a remote server, if appropriate for a particular application. Even further, in some embodiments, all information may be sent to the device with the subset being determined at the device and then displayed to the user.
Further, in carrying out the present invention, a method for coordinating access to a network from a plurality of user devices is provided. The method comprises establishing a placeholder at a server connected to the network, and retrieving the information indicated by the placeholder and displaying a subset of the retrieved information. The placeholder indicates the information available from the network and is established upon demand from a requesting user device connected to the network and in communication with the server. The information is retrieved and a subset of the information is displayed, upon demand, at a receiving user device having a device type, with the subset being based on the device type.
Of course, in accordance with methods of the present invention, the placeholder may be implemented in a variety of ways, including a proxy-browser implementation. Still further, it is appreciated that methods of the present invention may employ on demand translating or pre-translating of the information into appropriate subsets based on the device types of the information retrieving devices. Further, in the alternative, the device itself may determine the appropriate subset and then display that subset.
The advantages associated with embodiments of the present invention are numerous. For example, embodiments of the present invention enable a user to use information that is needed while mobile, and to mark information for automatic, rapid and easy retrieval when the user returns to a different device such as a workstation, printer, fax, or other device capable of displaying a larger subset of information than the mobile device.
The above object and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best modes for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.